The need for business photography, commercial photography and advertising photography has existed almost as long as photography itself.
Early advertising illustrations for newspapers, billboards and posters were created from drawings, photo engravings or photo etchings. The first use of halftones to reproduce a continuous tone photograph was in 1869 in Canada but it took several decades before it became common practice.
In the late 1800s and very early 1900s, business photography usually showed the owner and employees posing in their store, factory or warehouse. The photography was often done outside in front of the business simply because of the lack of suitable indoor lighting. Photos had to be done outdoors or near large windows like those in factories.
Today that same building is home to an information technology business.
That location has changed from styling horses to styling people. Today that store is a hairstyling salon.
Business owners wanted to show off their workplaces and their capabilities. Instead of just having people pose in their business, the photography began to show employees at work.
Times may change but the business message is the same.
Again, the times may change but the business message is the same. Each of the above two photos shows experienced employees busy at work serving their customers. This always enhances a company’s reputation.
If you live in Toronto, it may be hard to imagine that Toronto once had a huge airplane manufacturing industry, and also auto manufacturing, in the downtown area. There were also several airfields across the city.
Companies also used photography to document their business activities such as new construction, manufacturing processes and business progress.
As business offices became more important in the early to mid 1900s, office photography became more important. Companies wanted to show off their offices and modern office equipment.
Bell hired photographers to photograph many of its offices and other company facilities. This wasn’t for advertising but rather for its own corporate photo library. As business photography became more important, companies hired photographers to document their business activities.
Photographic technology has changed at lot over the past 150 years but the purpose of business photography has not. Corporate photography has always been used to help businesses get attention, inform the customer and build trust. And it continues to provide that help to businesses today.
